1. Field
This invention relates generally to television, particularly to a system and method to distribute purchased consumer video over a television network.
2. Related Art
Television set is often the centerpiece of a living room. With a good quality television set equipped with a DVD player, a consumer can enjoy home theatrical experience emulating that of a cinema. In addition to broadcast programs, the consumer can also enjoy pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs.
But nothing rivals the wide selection of purchased and rental movies, as evident by the continuous success they enjoy. With the advent of the Internet, many merchants are deploying innovative ways to deliver movies to enthusiasts. For example, NetFlix™ offers online movie rental and delivers the movies via postal service. Motivated by the success of online music download, some e-commerce merchants such as Walmart.com™, Amazon.com™ and ITunes™ are trotting out movie download purchase.
Online movie download from e-commerce merchants provides the convenience of not having to leave home. Unfortunately, the current solution does not allow the consumer to enjoy the movie immediately after a purchase. This is unacceptable in light of the fast-pace and on-the-go lifestyle of modern day living.
In one example, Iris buys the newly released “Dreamgirl” movie from an online e-commerce store. The movie is 142 minutes long and it takes almost 5 hours to download. After the download, Irish has to transfer the movie to a DVD disk or to her Apple™ TV so that she can play the movie on her television set. She is dismayed to find out that the whole process is so tedious and takes such a long time.
In one example, Tina and Mike decide to watch a movie after dinner at home. They check online movie merchant Amazon.com™ and select a movie they like. Unfortunately, they are told by Amazon.com™ to wait for 20 minutes before the movie can be shown. They cannot watch the movie on television right away.
In one more example, Greg enjoys watching streaming videos from the Internet. However, Greg finds the viewing experience for streaming videos at high resolution unacceptable with frequent delays, interruptions or choppiness of the picture.
The above illustrates a need for a system and method for immediate distribution of purchased consumer video over a television network to a television set.